SPC4 Upgrade Notes

Summary: What follows are notes I generated when going through the SPC4 Upgrade video and content.

Big Picture Differences: Portfolio

  • Enterprise
  • Strategic Themes
  • CapEx and OpEx
  • Budgets fund value streams
  • Enablers
  • 2 types of Value Streams: Operational (customer value) and Development (enabler)
  • Coordination point between portfolio and value stream level
  • Epics can span more than 1 PI

Big Picture Differences: Value Stream

  • The Value Stream
  • Economic Framework
  • Solution Intent with MBSE, Set Based, & Agile Architecture
  • Value Stream Engineer (VSE) (All ARTs and Suppliers — an RTE for the V/S)
  • Solution Arch / Engineer : All Arch
  • Solution Management: V/S Backlog
  • Capability: Phrase, Statement of Benefits, Acceptance Criteria
  • Inspect and Adapt at the V/S level wants evidence — solution demo, retro,
  • Capability must fit into a PI
  • Pre & Post I&A events
  • Each solution has 1 v/s
  • Customer can be internal or external
  • Spanning Palette: Apply at any level
  • SP: emphasizes metrics & milestones & releastions

Big Picture Differences: Program

  • Enablers: Exploration, Arch, Infra

Big Picture Differences: Team

  • Scrum/XP
  • Build-in Quality

Big Picture Differences: Foundation Level

  • Lean-Agile Leaders
  • Communities of Practices
  • Core Values (Program Execution, Alignment, Transperancy, Built-in Quality)
  • Lean-Agile Mindset (Lean: Value/Leadership, Respect, Flow, Innovation, Improve & Agile Mani)
  • SAFe Principles (Econ View, Sys Thinking, Preserve Options, Fast Learning, Milestones on objective eval, Visualize WIP, Cadence, Knowledge Workers, Decentralized)
  • Implementing 1-2-3 (Train Change Agents, Leaders, Teams)

Highlights from the Glossary:

  • Agile Arch: Evolve over time while supporting current users
  • ART: long-lived team: 50-125 people
  • Agile Teams: cross-functional 5-9
  • Arch Runway: sufficient tech infra to support highest-priority near-term features
  • Budgets: fund value streams not projects, Program Portfolio Management (PPM) retains total control
  • Built-in Quality: 1 of 4 SAFe core values
  • Business Owners: 3-5 people responsible for the value delivered by the ART
  • Capability: higher-level behaviors, span multiple ARTs
  • CapEx and OpEx: CapEx-physical assets, OpEx Salaries and Overhead
  • CoP: Informal group – share knowledge
  • CI: integrate and validate work frequently
  • Core Values: Program Execution, Transparency, Built-in Quality, Alignment
  • Customer: Consumes work
  • Develop on Cadence: resilience
  • DevOps: mindset
  • Econ Framework: decision rules that aligns functional objectives
  • Enabler Capability: Value Stream Level
  • Enabler Epic: Portfolio Level, cut across V/S and PIs
  • Enabler Feature: Program Level
  • Enabler Story: Team level, type of story, must fit in an iteration
  • Enablers: Explore, Arch, & Infra
  • Enterprise: Ultimate strat, fid, & gov
  • Enterprise Arch: fosters adaptive design
  • Epic: Business or Enabler : Occur at Port/ V/S/ or Program Level
  • Epic Owners: Develop business case
  • Feature: 1 ART, Program Backlog, fit into PI, SoB & defined A/C
  • Implementing 1-2-3: Change Agents, Leaders, Team
  • Innovation & Planning Iteration: buffer, time for innovation,
  • I&A: demo, reflect, improve
  • Iteration Execution: 2 week timebox
  • Iteration Goals: high-level business summary
  • Iteration Planning: Output: Iteration Backlog, Stories w/AC, Iteration Goals, Committment
  • Iteration Retro
  • Iterations: strict timebox, plan/commit/execute/demo/retro
  • Lean-Agile Leaders
  • Lean-Agile Mindset: understand and optimize the flow of value from concept to delivery
  • Metrics:
  • Milestones: based on PIs, planned learning points, and fixed dates
  • Model-Based System Engineering: modeling tools for requirements, design
  • Nonfunctional Requirements: system attributes, constraints, restraints
  • PI Planning: seminal, cadence-based face-to-face planning
  • Portfolio Backlog: highest-level backlog, business and enabler epics
  • Portfolio Business Epic: largest cross-cutting, business-facing
  • Portfolio Kanban: flow of action for value streams
  • Portfolio Level: highest level of concern for SAFe
  • Pre-and Post-PI Planning: wrapper for planning
  • Product Management: own the ART
  • Product Owner: team backlog
  • Program Backlog: features
  • Program Epics: analysis and lightweight business case, single ART, fit in a PI
  • Program Increment: newsworthy value
  • Program Kanban: estimated, prioritized, and acceptance criteria
  • Program Level: long-lived
  • Program PI Objectives: aggregation of PI objectives
  • Program Portfolio Management: highest-level strategy, fid decision-making
  • Release: valuable working software
  • Release Any Time: separation of concerns from cadence
  • Release Management: planning, managing, and governing releases
  • Release Train Engineer: facilitates ART processes and execution
  • Roadmap: communicates value stream deliverables and milestones
  • SAFe Principles: (See above)
  • Scrum Master: servant leader and coach, owns process, educates teams, eliminates impediments, foster an environment for high-performing team dynamics
  • ScrumXP: Scrum management practices and XP-inspired technical practices
  • Set-based design: multiple requirements and design options
  • Shared Services: cannot be dedicated full-time to any specific train
  • Solution: final product
  • Solution Architect / Engineering: align value stream and ARTs to common tech and arch vision
  • Solution Context: focus,impacts
  • Solution Demo: apex event of the PI Cycle
  • Solution Intent: repository of what and how build
  • Solution Management: value stream content authority
  • Spanning Palette: roles and artifacts that may be at any level of the framework
  • Stories: primary artifact used to define system behavior in Agile
  • Strategic Themes: connect SAFe to enterprise
  • Supplier: deliver components and subsystems
  • System Arch/Engineer: align ARTs to common tech and arch vision
  • System Demo: end of every iteration
  • System Team: Special Agile Team on the ART
  • Team Backlog: user and enabler stories
  • Team Demo: working stories to the Product Owner
  • Team Kanban: good for fast-changing priorities, lower value of planning
  • Team Level:  They power the ART
  • Team PI Objectives: what the Agile Team sets out to achieve
  • Test-first: elaborate and better define the intended system
  • User Experience: consistent UX across components
  • Value Stream Backlog: repository to advance the solution – spans multiple ARTs
  • Value Stream Coordination: guidance for managing dependencies
  • Value Stream Engineer: facilitates value stream processes
  • Value Stream Epics: analysis and light-weight business case, constrained to a single value stream
  • Value Stream Kanban: epics and capabilities reasoned and analyzed before reaching a PI boundary
  • Value Stream Level: multiple ARTs, contributions of suppliers
  • Value Stream PI Objectives: top level of PI objectives
  • Value Streams: long-lived series of steps realized by ARTs
  • Vision: future view of the solution
  • WSJF: Cost of Delay divided by job duration

Notes from the Upgrade Slide Deck

  • SAFE Principles
    • Econ View
    • System Thinking
    • Preserve Options
    • Fast Learning Cycles
    • Milestones based on eval of working systems
    • Visualize and Limit WIP
    • Apply Cadence
    • Unlock Intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers
    • Decentralized decision making
  • SAFE 4.0 Levels
    • Foundation – Guidance
    • Portfolio – Strategy & Funding
    • Value Stream – Large Systems: Solution Intent, Solution Management, Eng & Arch, Customer & Supplier, ART Coordination
    • Program – ARTs
    • Team – Kanban / Scrum
  • Lean-Agile Leaders
    • Lead the change
    • Know the way
    • Develop people
    • Inspire and align with mission
    • Decentralize decision-making
    • Unlock knowledge workers
  • Fund value streams
  • A portfolio has 1 or more Value Streams
  • Portfolio backlog does not need a separate budget reserve
  • Value Stream can move funds around ARTs
  • We capitalize implementation, not anything prior to portfolio backlog (that is expensed)
  • 2 types of value streams (operational – delivers customer value & development – enables operational value)
  • Solutions require coordination of dependencies across Value Streams
  • Value Stream governance comes from economic framework and value stream roles
  • Value Stream builds an integrated solution for a customer
  • Primary economic driver is optimizing incremental delivery
  • Lead Time, Cost, Value, and Development and Risk are primary tradeoffs
  • Economic Decision Making: Lean-Agile Budgeting, Epic Funding and Governance, Decentralized economic decision making, Job Sequencing based on cost of delay
  • Value Stream Roles: VSE (Value Stream Engineer) Guides the ARTs, Solution Arch/Eng Technical, Solution Management – functionality
  • One to One mapping between Solution and Value Stream
  • Solutions deliver behaviors described by the Solution Intent
  • Solution Context defines the environment  in which the solution operates
  • Lean-Agile Suppliers are treated as an ART
  • Set-based design maintains multiple requirements and options longer
  • Capability describes the higher level behaviors of a solution, WSJF prioritization
  • Value Stream Kanban:
    • (optional) Funnel, Review, Analysis
    • (mandatory) Epics break down into capabilities, Funnel, Analysis, Backlog, Implementing, Done
  • PO Sync: Product Owners & Product Managers facilitated by the RTEs or a Product Manager
  • Weekly 30-60 minutes
  • ART Sync: Combined SoS and PO Sync

 

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